Manifesto

So here it is, my Manifesto for a Better Campus, designed to get Kent Union back to what it should be doing, making student’s lives on campus better.

"I am standing for Union President because I believe Kent Union can do better. The Union President should be the campaigner-in-chief. We need a President that is prepared to lobby hard for your interests, to recognise that students don’t have it easy, and to take responsibility for the services Kent Union should be delievering to you. I have the policies, the experience, and the personality to be a progressive Union President."

Activism and Lobby

• Keeping the cap is the priority for the next full-time officer team. We cannot ignore the magnitude of this issue. I will use my campaigning experience to lead the struggle to keep the £3000 cap on tuition fees. To use the argument of ‘Broke and Broken’ to make the case for alternative funding.
• To lead action campaigns against de-registration of students with debts, as well as against the victimization of international students under the new Home Office regulations.
• I will put pressure on the University to reverse its policy of not housing returning students. We can’t expect students on placements or year’s abroad to sign a contract for houses they haven’t even seen.
• Green Campus- to lobby the University to guarantee that all new building projects have environmentally sustainable elements. To lobby the University to set up a fund to start insulating all student accommodation with modern insulation.
• To lobby Canterbury City Council to make the Tyler Hill a 20mph pedestrian safety zone. To make it easier, and safer for students to cross.

Reform

• To lead by example, I will put money where my mouth is- to only take £10,000 of the £14,999 living wage full-time officers are entitled to receive. To donate the £4,999 to our struggling Access to Learning Fund. To find a permanent solution to the demand to the Access to Learning Fund. To encourage other officers to follow suit.
• To lead a review of our commercial and entertainment services. To look at where we are failing, and how we can have more diverse acts in The Venue, as well as getting BANDS.
• I will also review the current wages system for Kent Union employees. I will seek to increase student wages closer to the London Living Wage standard of £7.20 per hour.
• To review the wages of senior members of staff, to cut excessive wages which exceed the Kent Union principle of “For you, not for profit!” 

Support

• To engage with the liberation officers, to make liberation campaigns a key part of Kent Union’s political and social dynamic. To not shy away from the concerns of mature, part-time, or postgraduate students. Every student has worth and value to Kent Union.
• To produce a detailed rating system of off-campus student accommodation landlords and letting agents. To rate accommodation on the basis of cost, modern utilities, insulation, and value for money. To enable students to make a wise choice on the kind of accommodation they want to live in. To name and shame bad landlords.

Transparency

• To have a minimum of 26 office hours per week and encourage other officers to do the same; a weekly Q&A on CSR; a bi-weekly blog; and to make myself more visible by doing case work in Kent Union-run outlets.
  
• To make regular visits to Kent’s satellite campuses. Kent Union must be reaching out to our members, rather than rely on our members to come to us.
• To review the job description of the President, to have clear guidelines to the role and remit of the President. 

"On March 16th, vote me, Luke Walter, for an activist Union President."

You can see the colour manifesto too:

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